DOLPHIN-LEGS
THERE WAS A POOR MAN WITH FOUR SONS AND AS HE LAY DYING, he divided all his property among them. The oldest son recieved his house. The second oldest recieved his row boat. The third son recieved his fishing rod. The fourth recieved a chunk of smoked salmon. Their father succumbed soon afterwards so then the oldest kicked the fourth son out because he was the most useless.
The fourth son's name was Amaruq, and he was not angry. He was sad that his father died. He walked along the beach holding the smoked salmon chunk until he couldn't stand the smell of it anymore, and because he was too sad to eat anyway, he threw it as far as he could throw it across the waves.
In the ocean at that exact moment, at the exact place where the smoked salmon chunk sank, was a dolphin languishing for something to eat. The dolphin ate it and became very energized.
Amaruq was crying on the beach. The dolphin beached himself next to Amaruq and said, “Thank you for the fish, small man!”
“You're welcome,” Amaruq replied. He was too sad to care that a dolphin was talking.
“Small man, why are you sad?”
“I don't have a home anymore.”
“I can do something about that,” the dolphin said.
Squeaking loudly, the dolphin wriggled and wiggled and shook. Suddenly, a leg grew out of his left side! Then a leg grew out of his right side! The dolphin bent his knees and stood straight up.
“Call me 'Dolphin-Legs'! Listen to me, I know how to make you rich.”
Dolphin-Legs hatched a plan and insisted it would work. It involved wrapping seaweed around Amaruq's arms, legs, his whole body including his head, hands, and feet.
Amaruq did what Dolphin-Legs instructed him to do and laid down on the sand. He was completely disguised in seaweed. Dolphin-Legs casually paced beside it, scratching at the sand with his feet as the seabirds do.
When all was quiet, along came a funeral procession of giant sea otters. The sea otter chieftain had just died. The prince, the prince's uncle, and the whole tribe were mourning their dead chief.
Dolphin-Legs stuck his feet in the seaweed and tickled the hidden Amaruq with his toes. Amaruq laughed.
Dolphin-Legs pointed a fin to the prince and shouted, “Hey, why are you laughing at your father's funeral?”
“I didn't!” Argued the accused.
“You would!” Said the uncle.
“I never lie,” lied Dolphin-Legs.
The giant otters fought. The prince was killed by his uncle who bashed him with a boulder from his enormous pocket. The dead otter was left on the beach, it looked like a large fallen tree. After the funeral, the tribe left with their newly appointed chief, the uncle.
When all was quiet again, there came a monster sea lions' birthing celebration. The monster chieftain's wife had born a hefty son and today was the naming ceremony.
Dolphin-Legs walked into the noisy herd. No sea lion minded him because their skin was so thick not even a polar bear could pierce it, and anyway a dolphin's teeth were tiny. So while he was among them, Dolphin-Legs managed to find out everyone who was lounging around the newborn pup. There was the mother, the sisters, the chief, and the chief's brother.
The loud barking simmered down until it was a soft rumble as the chief prepared to speak so Dolphin-Legs returned to the unsuspecting seaweed bed nearby and tickled Amaruq with his toes.
The hidden man laughed.
Dolphin-Legs pointed a fin at the brother and shouted, “Hey, why is the chief's brother laughing?”
All the monster sea lions in the herd began to bark. Excitement quickly turned into fury as unfounded rumors spread across their heads, everything from thinking the newborn was hideous to a planned asassination.
“They're all lies!” The chief's brother wobbled backwards.
“I didn't lie. I never lie,” lied Dolphin-Legs.
The monster chieftain had his brother executed. He was smashed to death by the herd's heaviest sea lions. The dead sea lion looked like an outcropping of rock.
After it was quiet again and the monstrous herd left, Dolphin-Legs told Amaruq to free himself.
The young man was amazed and astonished to see both a giant sea otter and an enormous sea lion both lying dead on the beach. His face was covered so he was a witness to none of it. Even the commotion was muffled.
Dolphin-Legs pranced around excitedly.
“Now listen to me, small man! You sell the fur and meat to the fisherman at the wharf for the first price offered to you and then bring the money back here.”
Amaruq did as he was told. He received a joke sum less than what the furs and meat were worth, but still he was glad to be rid of such grisly things. The young man returned assuming he was to split the money with the dolphin.
Dolphin-Legs had other ideas. The dolphin took the money, threw it in the air, and danced in it. He bade Amaruq to join him so they did and that was fun, until some pirates attracted to the shining and glittering captured them as slaves.
On the pirate ship, they were forced to peel potatoes and scrub the deck.
While scrubbing around, Amaruq with a mop and Dolphin-Legs with a rag on his foot, the dolphin would randomly kick the captain whenever his back was turned.
“Ow!” The pirate captain would say. “Who kicked me?”
“It wasn't us,” Dolphin-Legs would respond.
“It was you!”
“Hey, I'm not the only one with legs for kicking. Look, it was probably him!” And Dolphin-Legs would point his fin towards the nearest shipmate.
“It wasn't me!” The shipmate would say.
To which Dolphin-Legs would cleverly refute. “Who are you going to believe? Me, a dolphin with legs, or a pirate?”
And the captain using his own wise judgement would stab whoever it was.
This went on until the captain stabbed his entire crew, and then Dolphin-Legs kicked him overboard.
Now Amaruq had the whole ship and everything on it including the money the pirates stole earlier.
“See, small man! I told you I knew how to make you rich,” Dolphin-Legs squeaked and then he jumped into the ocean and was never seen from again.
At least this is how the story goes as to how this coastal town was founded. It is said Amaruq returned the pirate's stolen goods to the people and out of gratitude they elected him their mayor. Honestly, if the tale were told by a dolphin with legs then it would probably be more believable.